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1. Do you have a smartphone or a tablet for work?
Yes, a smartphone. (+5)
Yes, a tablet. (+5)
Yes, both. (+10)
No, neither. (+1)

2. If smartphone, how smart is it?
It won the Scripps National Spelling Bee. (+5)
Smarter than your genius cousin. (+5)
Do you mean smart as in intelligent, or smart as in stylish? (+10)
Not smart. I need an upgrade. (+1)

3. Can you get your company e-mail on your device/s?
Of course. (+10)
Of course not. It’s against company policy. (+5)
(Ahem.) No. (+1)
Did someone tell you to ask me that? (-1)

4. And IT is aware of all this?
Yes. (+10)
What they don’t know won’t hurt them. (+1)
Hold on a sec while I go wake them up and ask. (-1)

5. Hypothetically speaking, if IT doesn’t know, what would they do if they found out?
Fire me. (-1)
Tighten down the screws on the company network. (+5)
Shrug. (+1)
Help me set it up the right way. (+10)

6. Can you access enterprise apps from your mobile device/s?
That’s what makes it/them so useful. (+10)
Ha! That’ll be the day. (+1)
If by “access” you mean “look at, like a child outside the window of a candy store” then yes. If you mean “actually use,” then no. (+5)
Again, did someone tell you to ask me this? (-1)

7. Who owns your device/s?
I do. (+10)
My company does. (+5)
Are you going to tell IT about the e-mail thing? (-1)

8. If you own it/them, does your company pick up any of the costs?
No, the cheapskates. (-1)
Yes, they cover some or all of the purchase price. (+1)
Yes, they cover some or all of the monthly service fee. (+5)
Yes, they pay for the whole enchilada. (+10)

9. If you own it, did you get to choose the device you wanted, or did you have to pick from a list?
My choice (+10)
Picked exactly what I wanted from a list. (+5)
Picked the least of several evils from a list. (+1)
I got what I wanted, and then pretended like
I didn’t know there was a list. (-1)

10. At your company, who can bring their own device?
No one. (+1)
Anyone with the chutzpah to flout official policy. (-1)
Just the suits. (+5)
Everybody: delivery truck drivers, CEO, admins. (+10)

11. How often do you have to change the password on your device/s?
Password protection is for wimps. (+1)
Whenever the things lock me out and force me to. (+10)
Never. I use the same PIN for my voicemail, ATM card and phone, and if I ever changed it, I’d be completely incapacitated. (+5)

12. Does your company have a mobile governance policy?
A what? (+1)
Yeah, but I’ve never read it. (+5)
Yes, I got a copy when IT set my phone and tablet up on the company mobile device management platform. (+10)

13. What does “remote wipe capability” mean?
Do not use that kind of language in the workplace! (+1)
When the touch screen gets really dirty, you can clean it from across the room? (+1)
I’m pretty sure it’s something to do with security. (+5)
IT can permanently erase everything on my phone if I lose it. (+10)

14. What’s an enterprise app store?
Beats me. (+1)
Someplace where I can download Angry Birds for free. (+5)
Is this a Star Trek reference? (-1)
That company web site where I download all the apps I need to do my job. (+10)

15. On a business trip, you leave your phone in a cab. You:
Swear. Loudly. (+1)
Threaten the dispatcher bodily harm if they can’t deliver it to you before your plane leaves. (-1)
Use Find My Phone to locate it. (+5)
Email IT from my tablet and tell them to lock it immediately. (+10)

16. From the following list, select all the places where you’ve done work from your mobile.
A coffeeshop. (+5)
The airport. (+5)
The beach. (+1)
In bed. And they wonder why we don’t use video chat. (+10)
The dog park. (+5)
My in-laws’. (+1)
The golf course. (+5)

17. Do you email, instant message or text your colleagues when you’re in the same room?
Never. Face-to-face interaction is always more satisfying. (+1)
You’re just mad that you can’t text as fast as me. (+5)
Just making sure everyone is included, and has conversations in writing for future reference. (+10)

18. When your device goes on the fritz, you:

“Accidentally” break it so you can get a new one on the company’s dime. (-1)
Turn it off and back on again, which usually clears up the problem. (+10)
Call help desk. They always help. (+5)
Call help desk over and over again until they show up at my desk, because they ignore me otherwise. (+1)

*************

Tally Your Score

Above 160: Exemplary
Your company is so hip to mobility, we’d like it to be our case study.

135 - 159: Ahead of the Pack
Pat your IT department on the back. It sounds like your CIO is plugged in, and making a concerted effort to support mobile workers, but there’s still some room for improvement.

90 - 134: Steady as She Goes
Your company is on Mobilization Road, but has a way to go to wring out full benefits. A governance policy is probably in order, as are the security and administration features available in mobile management software.

50 – 89: Lagging Behind
Scoring somewhere between Clueless and Draconian, your company needs to get with the program. Password protection, secure company email and allowing more devices are good places to start.

Under 50: Accident Waiting to Happen
Your company is operating in the Mobility Danger Zone. It’s time for IT to recognize that Denial is more than a river in Egypt, and that company data is already at risk.

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This article is excerpted from the Mobility Manifesto. Find similar pieces when you download the e-book by visiting www.MobilityManifesto.com.

Eric Lai tracks the latest news and trends in enterprise mobility. A veteran
tech journalist most recently covering enterprise software for Computerworld,
Eric joined Sybase, an SAP company in April 2010. Eric's views are his alone
and do not necessarily represent those of SAP. This blog is sponsored by SAP.